Italian carbs, leather handbags and new job

August 16, 2018

Dear Max and Rebecca

I thought I should get some words in before I shower you with love and good wishes for your respective birthdays next month, and before we celebrate with all the cake (speaking of which, Rebecca woke us up around 5.30am this morning requesting cake, and there’s a reason I’ve come home twice to muffins over the last week – it’s because of someone’s nagging for cake, and Mellisa having to bake some!)

Our winter has been mild, and I’ve complained mildly too. It helped that we had a family holiday in Italy to shed the layers, and watch the sun go down around 9.30pm each day. We had a fantastic time – I learnt to drive on the right hand side of the road (though I avoided most of the driving), we took beautiful day trips, I ate so much biscotti, yoghurt with sprinkles, and pasta, and I put on a kilogram for almost every bag I bought. I put on 4kg, and burnt a hole in my new leather wallet at Sephora.

Another highlight was being in Florence for two days, a city that is my Italian Paris. It was enough to just walk through the streets, marvel at the buildings, enjoy the culture, and look out onto the bustling piazza from our AirBnB balcony, and just take it all in. I loved it, and I often feel pangs for it.

The beginning of June kicked off my new business. I left my agency to set up my own PR and content business and being solo is how I remember it – hustling, working even harder, thrilling, terrifying, but I’m enjoying that I can see a bit more of you, and fit in work on different terms, whether it’s working on holiday (tick), working while waiting at cricket practice (tick), or working on Saturday nights (tick). I’m happy, and I’m happy to have the challenges now of working this way.

You two obviously remain my lights. We’re going through such typical and age-appropriate things at the moment. Max’s “But why do I have to have a limit on my iPad?” and Rebecca’s vocalisation when things don’t go the way her script says it should. We have so much fun – and with your age gaps, I can have the more “intellectual” type, and then the “get down on all fours and act like a dog and run around the house” to amuse the toddler fun. Sometimes I forget to have these moments, but since I’m feeling a lot lighter on the work front, I’m a little bit more relaxed and able to initiate – and prolong – these happy experiences.

I have a lot on my to-do list until the end of the year. Obviously to keep my work going consistently and creatively, to lose those Italian kilograms and more, to carry on with French at the Alliance Francaise, to run the Soweto Marathon (and basically start from a zero base to get there), to learn and practise more photography, to get through my stack of books…

I followed your Italy posts with great envy, Tanya.
Also, I left Flume in October last year to go solo, too, and while I love the freedom it gives me, I often wish I had someone to talk to. I’m super excited for you, though, and keen to keep up with what you’re doing. I am sure you will rock as hard at this as you do at just about everything.
All the best!